The Belleek Pottery

Sunday

Aug 3, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 3, 2014 at 11:39 PM

From Yeats’ grave we move on to the Belleek Pottery. We had a little bit of a delay getting going (I'll talk about that another time) and I was very anxious when our guide said, 'If we miss our scheduled tour time, we will not be able to go in." Hence my anxiety, Without meaning to be sacrilegious, I tell several people in the group, ‘Now this is my shrine…’

I don’t know how it happened that a woman with a name like ‘Gershkowitz’ became such a fan of Belleek pottery. Maybe it was the fine, thin ceramic, so delicate that when you hold a piece of Belleek up you can see the light shining through it.

Belleek Candle Holder

Maybe it was the hand-painting. Or the thinness of the vessel. Or the fine lines. All I know is that I’ve collected it for a while and I’m excited to be seeing its home. Unfortunately, pictures aren’t allowed in the pottery, so I cannot divulge trade secrets with my photos. But pictures of Belleek…that I can show.

Belleek Trademark

The image above is a pottery version of the official trademark. The mark on the bottom of Belleek changes every eight to twelve years, but the Irish Wolfhound facing the round tower and the Irish harp have all almost always been present. Because the mark changes, it's possible to estimate the age of a piece. Most valuable are the ‘black mark’ pieces that date back to the 19th century. When I started collecting Belleek it had a green mark, which changed slightly over the years. Then the color changed: most recent are the ‘blue marks’. I could go on, but I’ll spare you… this is a tour of Ireland, not of my fantasy Belleek collection.

When our tour of the pottery is finished, I cannot help but notice almost everyone in the group is suddenly as passionate about Belleek as I was when we started. It really is that beautiful.

For more information visit http://www.belleek.com/uk/belleek-visitors-centre.

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From Yeats’ grave we move on to the Belleek Pottery. We had a little bit of a delay getting going (I'll talk about that another time) and I was very anxious when our guide said, 'If we miss our scheduled tour time, we will not be able to go in." Hence my anxiety, Without meaning to be sacrilegious, I tell several people in the group, ‘Now this is my shrine…’
I don’t know how it happened that a woman with a name like ‘Gershkowitz’ became such a fan of Belleek pottery. Maybe it was the fine, thin ceramic, so delicate that when you hold a piece of Belleek up you can see the light shining through it.

Belleek Candle Holder

Maybe it was the hand-painting. Or the thinness of the vessel. Or the fine lines. All I know is that I’ve collected it for a while and I’m excited to be seeing its home. Unfortunately, pictures aren’t allowed in the pottery, so I cannot divulge trade secrets with my photos. But pictures of Belleek…that I can show.

Belleek Trademark

The image above is a pottery version of the official trademark. The mark on the bottom of Belleek changes every eight to twelve years, but the Irish Wolfhound facing the round tower and the Irish harp have all almost always been present. Because the mark changes, it's possible to estimate the age of a piece. Most valuable are the ‘black mark’ pieces that date back to the 19th century. When I started collecting Belleek it had a green mark, which changed slightly over the years. Then the color changed: most recent are the ‘blue marks’. I could go on, but I’ll spare you… this is a tour of Ireland, not of my fantasy Belleek collection.

When our tour of the pottery is finished, I cannot help but notice almost everyone in the group is suddenly as passionate about Belleek as I was when we started. It really is that beautiful.

For more information visit http://www.belleek.com/uk/belleek-visitors-centre.

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